It's remarkable that any college president would care about a sex column in the student newspaper, and even more remarkable that a college president would do anything about it. (What self-respecting Ivy League university does *not* have such a feature?) Feel free to call Craven Community College president Scott Ralls at 252-638-4131 or 252-638-7201 and email him at rallss@private It's better to be courteous than incredibly antagonistic. From his bio (http://www.cravencc.edu/about/deptserv/presoffice.htm) it seems that Ralls is a former state government "workforce training" bureaucrat, which might explain his lack of appreciation for free thinking and controversial views. The below message is forwarded with permission. -Declan -------- Original Message -------- Subject: long-time reader in a pickle Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 07:08:44 -0600 From: Mitzi Ponce <info@private> Organization: Voice Pro, Inc. To: <declan@private> Dear Declan: I've subscribed to the politech list for years now, and I'm not sure I've ever emailed you - maybe once regarding HIPAA implications when I was part of a team developing an internet-based HIM system. At any rate, I'm writing today on a matter unrelated to Politech; well, maybe a second cousin twice removed. Here's the deal: After the kids were grown, I moved to the east coast, specifically, Oriental, North Carolina. Last year, I decided it was finally time to finish school, so I enrolled at a local community college. Regardless of my day jobs, my first passion has always been writing, so I jumped at a chance to write for the fledgling student newspaper. She's a comely little craft, this newspaper, usually set on a true course, but recently she drifted into choppy waters and ran afoul of the school administration. Our editor greenlighted a sex advice column, many readers were upset, and he reversed his decision in light of their concerns. Our school president, however, was not content to allow this process to play out. Within a few days of publication (March 4, 2005): - he "fired" staff by redirecting their work-study funds (those three students are still without jobs) - replaced one of our advisers with the community relations coordinator - failed to denounce the alleged theft of our papers from news racks - announced that the independent paper was not, in fact, independent - appointed an administrator to re-write our charter - created and "stacked" a media advisory board - there's more, but you see the pattern here, I'm sure I've reprinted the original article along with two letters I've sent to Dr. Ralls on www.neuseriverjunction.org <http://www.neuseriverjunction.org>. The first letter was meant to provoke thought; but the second letter is a direct rebuttal to Dr. Ralls' position as he stated it to me in private email. Declan, many people called Ralls immediately (phone-tree) expressing outrage at the article, but few people are aware or understand the implications of his actions. I'm wandering in the wasteland here, explaining over and over that restricting the paper's freedom to speak restricts the readers' freedom to be informed. Unfortunately, most people can't make it past the word "dildo" and many people in our community consider the entire issue to be frivolous, as it "only concerns a bunch of dumb kids," as one upset mom put it to me. I know this isn't in your area of special interest, and I'm not asking you to publicize our plight (although I wouldn't stop you either <grin>), but I am asking if you could take a few minutes to read the background material I've posted on the website, decide whether you can be supportive, and if you can be supportive, please call or email Ralls to express your thoughts. (252-638-4131) We need calm voices speaking in our defense. Thank you for your time and any help you can offer, Sincerely, Mitzi Ponce _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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